A Flash of Clarity
by Not Jessica
Summary: When some unlikely new students arrive at Hogwarts Harry's world gets a sharp jolt out of orbit.


**Chapter 1- The Start of Term Feast**

Hermione looked at Harry with big, exasperated eyes, "I can't believe you". It had to be the fiftieth time she had said those words since he had got back to the table, covered in blood, again, Harry, Hermione and the Wesley's took one more evil glare toward Malfoy and returned to normal, silently deciding to forget the entire nose-breaking incident.

It was the beginning of the start of term feast; as usual the atmosphere in the hall thoroughly contradicted the grey night and hammering rain outside and on the ceiling. The large, cavernous hall was filled with the noise of friends separated for the summer catching up on gossip and eyeing new first years or else longing, like Ron was for the food to appear. Harry and Hermione began talking haphazardly about the rain and occasionally look over at Ron who was staring at the spot in the table where he knew a warm steaming plate of sausages would appear after Dumbledore's speech, he stared with such concentration, as though willing the sausages to arrive. Just as Ron stomach gave an angry rumble for the fourth time Dumbledore, as if on cue, stood up and prepared to begin his speech. The whole hall fell to its customary silence; even Ron's stomach sensed that now was not the time to be thinking about food.

The great man looked upon them with as much joy and love as a father would his children and began his speech, new teachers were noted, and school rules were reminded of. After a solemn pause that Harry used to reel upon Dumbledore's choice to allow Snape to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts Dumbledore looked back up at his students "On an interesting and happier note, for the first time in its history Hogwarts will be welcoming more new students then just our new first years," at this an excited murmur broke out, no one could see why students would begin late at Hogwarts. Dumbledore coughed pointedly and the school fell into a now expectant silence "Their story is a curious and at times tragic one, however with respect to their privacy there are certain facts to which you must be aware, and our new students have allowed me to share. Because of certain circumstances these young people have never been aware of the existence of our world, all they knew was their powers and, in time they taught themselves how to use them. They are some of the most powerful wizards and witches of their age I have ever had the pleasure of meeting; however they have never been exposed to certain aspects and conventions of our world that we all take for granted. I know that you will welcome them with open arms and before long they will be a solid part of Hogwarts life, they have asked me to request of you only two things, a little guidance and a little patience, particularly from the Gryffindors, in which house they have been placed."

With a creek of the door the whole school looked up to see Professor McGonagall lead in a group of around twenty teenagers into the great hall, next to him, he heard Hermione stifle a gasp, and on his other side Ron give a low, barely audible whistle; "They-are-gorgeous" he mouthed. Harry certainly had to agree; every girl in the group was tall and slender and every boy looked agile and muscular,

"Look at that one" Harry whispered pointing to a girl of around 16 with long beautiful blonde curls falling down her back and electric green eyes "Do you reckon she'll be in our year?" Harry asked Ron hopefully.

"Even if she was, mate," there is no way she's gonna drop that guy for one of us." Harry knew he was right, the boy who had his arm draped around her body was easily the best looking in the group, despite that it was easy to see every time they looked at each other that you had never seen a couple more infatuated with each other.

"Honestly, you two," Hermione snapped "If for just one second you bothered to think with your big brain, rather then your one below the waist you would notice something else, other then how gorgeous they are." Almost instantly Harry saw what Hermione meant; he saw a girl of about 14 sporting a bruise over one eye and a boy a bit younger than her with a limp, Harry saw that almost everyone in the group was sporting scars and burns, blood and bruises, one boy that could only be a little younger then he was missing three of the fingers on his left hand, but it was something undefined that struck Harry so badly and was without a doubt the thing that had caused the horrified looks on Ron and Hermione's faces; in the younger students eyes he saw pain and loss and fear, they seemed to be expecting an attack at any moment, and they seemed prepared to fight but in the older of the students there was something different, there was nothing, it was as though they had once been those younger students, and that they had learnt the hard way not to let there emotions show.

"It's like a bit of them has _died"_ Hermione said, awestruck. They sat down at the end of the table, sitting very close together, those older students giving the younger reassuring looks. As they sat the food miraculously appeared on the table and the curious noses gave way to the hungry stomachs as almost everyone's eyes left the new students and began on the feast. Everyone except Harry, Ron and Hermione.

**Please review it, whether you loved it or you hated it, I wont to know, your advise is the only way I know where the story should go, and more importantly it's the only way I can improve!**


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